The Legend of Zelda: The Last Rebellion
by x-Goody2Shoes-x
Summary: It has been seven years since the overthrow of Ganon, and times are troubled once again in Hyrule. The King and Princess have both dissapeared, and in these dark days, the time has come for an unexpected hero to step forth... Ratings may change.
1. Hours of Darkness

**The Legend of Zelda: The Last Rebellion.**

**Chapter One.**

**Hours of Darkness.**

Darren lifted his head and stared moodily out of his bedroom window as the fiery sun began to sink slowly in the darkening sky. His mood matched the sky perfectly. Scowling at the sun, he turned back from the window and let his head fall back onto the pillow again with a soft thump. It was Sunday. Normally, he wouldn't dream of being in his bedroom on a Sunday evening. He would have been out with the rest of the boys from the village, hanging out by the graveyard. Dampé the grave keeper didn't care what they did, as long as they didn't mess up the gravestones. But… scowling again at the humiliating memory of a week previously, Darren clenched his fist and thumped his mattress hard. It was all his parents' fault. They didn't want him to have a life. Ever since he had been a child, Darren's parents had wanted to keep him safe forever. As a baby, the only other people they would let hold him were his grandparents. A soft knock came at his door.

"Darren?" His mothers' whispered voice pierced Darren's fug of gloom like an arrow. Darren gritted his teeth and shoved his head on his pillow, smothering it against the soft material. Right at this moment, he hated his parents. He just wasn't in the mood to hear their pitiful excuses or their snivelling apologies. "Darren, are you asleep?" He didn't say a word. "Darren, your father said not to disturb you, but if you're hungry, there's some stew on the paraffin stove, and some bread in the larder. Your father and I are going out. We'll see you later." Silence. "I love you. Goodbye." Darren wouldn't say a word. He heard his mother give a deep sigh, and then heard her shuffle away.

Darren waited until he heard the front door bang, and then he got up. He swung his legs out of bed and got unsteadily to his feet. His legs were cramped after lying in the same position for hours on end. He was hungry. He hadn't eaten anything since breakfast. Ever since his parents had grounded him, Darren had refused to eat meals with them. He would wake up in the early hours of the dawn, creep into the kitchen and make himself an enormous sandwich. Then, after his parents had gone to bed, he would sneak into the kitchen and make himself an enormous pot of stew. Silently, he made his way over to the door, and turned the doorknob. The door creaked open. Darren pushed it open on its rusty hinges. He made his way swiftly through the dark house. The tip of the sun burned a fiery red, like pomegranate seeds, but the glow of its heat never reached the windows. When he reached the kitchen, he rummaged around in the drawers for the matches. His hands closed over the small packet. He pulled them out, struck a match and lit a candle.

The small, warm orange light illuminated Darren's tired young face. He was small and skinny for his fourteen years, with short, stiff curly brown hair and clouded grey eyes, which seemed to glow with an unnatural mist. He was dressed in tight grey tights, with a white vest, a baggy yellow shirt, and then a purple tunic over it. The tunic has been his father's, and was slightly too big for Darren's skinny frame. It was pinched in at the waist by a belt of brown leather. Darren reached over to the paraffin stove, and, sure enough, there was a large iron pot on the top filled almost to the brim with a thick, rich smelling stew. Darren picked up a nearby wooden spoon, stirred the stew a bit, then pulled the spoon out and tasted the stew. It was chicken, with vegetables. Darren grimaced. He hated vegetables. His hatred of the small green things battled with Darren's hunger, but in the end, hunger won out. Darren began rifling around in one of the small wooden cupboards for a bowl, and then stopped. He could have sworn he heard a scuttling noise. He knelt on the dusty wooden floor, frozen for a moment, listening carefully for any sign of abnormality.

Silence.

Shrugging his worries away, Darren continued his search for a few seconds, and then stopped again. This time he was sure of it. There was a small scuttling sound, like claws on the floor, not too far away. Rats? Darren wondered, peering all around for the owner of that strange noise. They had had a rat in the house a few weeks back, and he had helped his dad lay down traps for them, whilst his mother had fled across the street to Martha's house, where she had not retuned for three hours. Bending forward on his hands and knees, Darren began crawling across the kitchen floor, his hands pressing against the floor like scrabbling spiders, rolling dust into the tips of his long brown fingers. There was a pause, and then the scrabbling sound was heard again. It was closer this time. Much closer. And louder. It scratched against the floor in a strange way, tip-tap-scrabble-scratch. Darren clenched his jaw. He took a deep breath, to try and calm his fluttering heart. Darren wasn't afraid of rats, but he wasn't looking forward to reaching out and grabbing what sounded like an enormous one in the dark. Darren took a final breath, closed his eyes, and lunged forwards. *****

"More tea, Bella?"

"Love some," Arabella Figg nodded at her neighbour, Doreen Fowler, who smiled and leaned forwards with her china teapot. Arabella and Doreen were the nosiest of nosy neighbours in Kakariko Village. They both lived in semi-detached yellow houses with red roofs just beyond the well, both owned cats, and both adored spying on their neighbours. Arabella and Doreen were always seen rushing over to each other's houses as fast as their rheumatism would allow, with the latest dirty gossip on their neighbours. Tonight, Arabella had obviously landed a really juicy winner, because she had rushed over at sunset, which was always, without a doubt, cat-feeding time. Arabella Figg never missed cat-feeding time unless something important came up. And although she was pretending not to be particularly interested, Doreen Fowler was positively ready to tear her wig apart with apprehension. Arabella enjoyed this. She leant back in her armchair and took a sip of her tea, smirking horribly as she did so. Although they were best friends, there was always a sort of nit-picking rivalry going on, and Arabella was clearly enjoying her brief moment of power over Doreen. There was a little mewling sound, and Doreen reached down to stroke her grey cat, which was twining her way around the old lady's legs.

"So, Bella, what brings you here at such short notice?" Doreen asked, straightening up with a groan and a creak from her stiff joints.

"I don't know if you have heard," Arabella began, stirring her tea with a silver sugar spoon. "About the brief- ah- incident that occurred on Sunday night last week?"

"Oh, _that_. Darling, of course I heard. The whole VILLAGE heard of that. Poor Benjamin! He was SO embarrassed at that little unfortunate occurrence. Can barely walk through the village now without hanging his head in shame. Mind you, who wouldn't be ashamed of a son like that Darren Woodsworth?"

"True, true… a little troublemaker if ever I saw one! But no, that's not why I came. Something else has happened! Something even BIGGER!"

"Bigger? Bigger? How big?" Asked Doreen, forgetting her act of indifference and spilling her tea in her excitement. The cat, resentful at having hot tea spilt over its back, gave an indignant meow and stalked off huffily with its tail in the air.

"I mean, arrest offence big!" Said Arabella, her small blue eyes popping madly in her excitement.

"Arrest offence!" Exclaimed Doreen. "Hoo-hoo! What fun!" The two old ladies cackled like witches, slapping their stiff knees in enthusiasm.

"But, dear, who will be getting the arrest offence?" Asked Doreen, when she had clamed down a bit. Arabella gave a mischievous smile, showing her badly fitting set of false teeth.

"Why, dear… I'd have thought you'd have guessed it by now."

"Not…" faltered Doreen, her words dying on her thin lips. Arabella nodded.

"Yes," she chuckled. "Yes, they'll be arriving for Darren Woodsworth before the end of the night!"

*****

"Brian!" Laughed Darren, sitting back on the floor, his hands splayed over the chest of his enthusiastic dog, trying to push him off his chest. "Down, boy! Down!" But Brian would not sit down. He panted happily as he licked Darren's face over and over again, his large paws pressed on his chest, his feathery tail a wagging blur. "Brian! Stop it! I- don't- want-" Darren couldn't help himself. Slowly, he fell on his back, roaring with laughter, as Brian continued to lick his face. As the laughter poured out of him like a flood escaping the wreckage of a broken dam, Darren realised how depressed he had been by his parents' punishment. I'll never be that moody again, he vowed, pushing his dopey setter off him at last and wiping his face dry. It's not healthy. A knock at the door startled him. He spun around, silenced. Brian, sensing something, turned on his heels, raised his upper lip revealing, sharp, white teeth, and growled.

"What's the matter, boy?" Darren whispered, crawling over to his dog. The setter stepped back and growled again. Darren was really confused now. "Brian, what is it?" He whispered. He sat next to him and started stroking him. His fingers gently massaged the dog's tense neck muscles. Whoever was at the door banged hard on the wood. BANG BANG. Brian growled loudly, a savage rumble from deep in his throat. Darren gulped nervously. A harsh voice spoke loudly, addressing him.

"Darren Woodsworth! This is the Hyrule Castle Private Soldier Force! Come out with your hands up! We have you surrounded!"


	2. Escape from the Past

"Oh, shit," breathed Darren. He tossed himself onto the floor, pressing himself as flat as he could. Brian stood stock-still, his hackles raised, his ears pricked, face frozen in a terrifying snarl.

"Darren Woodsworth! This the Hyrule Castle Private Soldier Force! Come out with your-" The soldier repeated his angry message. Darren pressed himself still flatter on the floor, hardly daring to breathe. His head swam. Darren closed his eyes, ignoring his trembling eyelids. His whole body quivered and shook. Darren had been in trouble before. He was no stranger to punishment. Just the other day in the Kakariko schoolhouse, he had managed to single-handedly destroy the cook's prize chocolate gateau. But this was something else - something serious. He knew it had to be something to do with - Immediately Darren's stomach jerked at the memory. _It wasn't your fault_, Darren thought, biting his lip as his eyelid filled with tears, _you tried to get help. It was too late. _

_But it WAS your fault_, Darren acknowledged guiltily. _If you hadn't wasted time trying to ask him what had happened, you could have raised the alarm. Sent him to the Healer_. Darren's stomach writhed and twisted as though it were full of snakes. Nobody else was supposed to know. How could the HCPSF (Hyrule Castle Private Soldier Force) have discovered it? He had been so careful, so discreet, so-

"Darren Woodsworth! Come out with your hands up! This is your last warning! We know you're in there!" Roared the angry voice, as hands rained against the door in a barrage of unequalled fury. Darren gulped once more, blinked harshly, un-blurring his eyes of tears, before squashing himself as flat as was possible against the floor. He knew what he had to do. He had to escape, escape his parents' mollycoddling, escape the HCPSF, escape his guilt; his past… and he had to do it quietly, and without fuss. Immediately, Darren started worming his way across the floor, ignoring the heavy grunts and shouts as the soldiers began bashing the door with their shoulders. _I bet Arabelly-button and Dorian are having a field day_, he thought bitterly as he wriggled towards his bedroom door. Stupid boring old farts. Bet they've got their noses glued to the windows. And everyone else in this stupid, tedious shithole of a village. At last, Darren reached his door. Slowly, stealthily, Darren rose from the floor in a kind of half crouch, just as the door gave way behind him. With a great groan and a splintering crash, the wreckage of the door fell flat to the floor, raising a cloud of dust and wood splinters. Terrified, Darren used the opportunity to slip through his door, shut it and lock it with the heavy brass key he always carried. His heart pounding, Darren leant against the door and closed his eyes. Something whipped past his legs, and Darren's eyes snapped open in a terror. He whirled around, feeling blinded by his panic, and saw with a sense of relief it was just Brian, who had nipped through the door at the last moment. He stared at Darren with his soft, melted chocolate eyes, and Darren knew what he had to do. He knelt down and briefly fondled Brian's fluffy red ears.

"Sorry, boy," he choked, tears blurring his eyeballs again. "I have no other choice." Turning away, tears openly falling down his face, Darren leant under his bed and after a while, found his strong leather camping bag. Wriggling out from under his bed again, Darren looked around his room and after a bit, his eyes scanning the surrounding darkness hopefully, he found his water bottle covered in leather to keep its contents cool. He grabbed his leather wallet, full of his life savings, fifty-three Rupees. He knew it wouldn't last long. He also knew his mother always kept thirty Rupees in the back of her underwear drawer, in case of emergencies. Well, this was an emergency now, alright. But could he risk sneaking past the soldiers? Time was precious, and Darren knew already vital minutes had passed. They would be searching the house, and he knew it wouldn't take long to assess he was not in any of the other rooms. Darren bit his lip, his mind bursting with suggestions, bouncing on his heels, completely unsure of what to do. Then, he heard another shout.

"In here! He's got to be! The other rooms are empty!" In that split-second, Darren decided. If it was possible, he would come back to his house and take the money. Right now, escape was more important.

_How are you ever going to spend the money_, Darren thought, as he raced around his room, looking for his dagger, _if you don't escape first? _At last, Darren found it; his prized dagger, which Darren's father had discovered one day when he was in the Lost Woods, doing research on Wolfos. It had been given to Darren as a present on his fourteenth birthday. It was lying on top of his bedside cabinet. It had a beautiful golden blade, untarnished and dazzling that glowed dimly in the darkness. The sunshine yellow hilt sparkled with golden topazes and, near the tip; there was a tiny symbol… a curvy looking 'X' with four circles, one next to each corner. Darren raced forward and snatched it up, hearing shouts from behind as the soldiers bashed the door hard with their clenched fists. Brian leapt towards the door in a red-golden blur, snarling furiously as his dinner-plate sized paws smashed against the wood. Darren threw himself towards his bed and bundled up his twisted sheets, stuffing them into his bag, glancing feverishly towards the door, crying loudly, his breathing fast and shallow.

Darren panted hard, his whole face shining with sweat and glistening with tears. Darren's whole world was a blur; a stressful, surreal blur of never ending darkness; he heard a gush of twisted noise, Brian barking and snarling, the soldiers shouting and banging the door, Darren's anxious panting. It was all meaningless noise compared to the huge knot of panic twisting away in the pit of Darren's stomach. Darren gave another enormous, quivering sob, and his very heart seemed to shudder. His whole body was shaking like an aspen leaf, trembling in grief, intoxicated in his sadness and panic. Darren turned away from the bed, ready to run, when his entire body seemed to freeze. Moments ago, his body had been aflame with worry, quivering in white-hot terror. Now, it seemed to be frozen in a convulsion of panic that outsized everything Darren had seen and heard tonight.

_There was no way out of the house_.

The soldiers were blocking the locked door, and there was no other door in Darren's room. Darren spun away, crying in sheer fury. After all his effort, all his carefulness, now he was locked away? Brian suddenly barked extra loudly, and Darren saw a long, thin spidery crack running down the door. Just as Darren was giving himself up for lost, he saw it. The window! It was small, but big enough for him to squeeze through. Darren turned to his faithful dog, who for a second, remained quiet, his brown eyes shining, silently pleading with Darren to let him come too.

"Sorry, boy," whispered Darren, giving the setter a final pat, rumpling his thick, curly, scarlet fur. "See you later… I hope." Giving Brian a watery smile, Darren spun on his heel and raced towards the window. He pushed his palm against it, pressing against the glass with all his might. Nothing happened. Darren tried again. Three, four, five times. The window didn't budge. Desperate, Darren clenched his fist and banged the rusty handle hard. With a small, shrill CLINK! the window creaked open. Darren pushed the glass, damp and mouldy with condensation, out as far as it would go. He tossed his bag out of the window, and leapt into the air. CRACK! The sickening sound was made as Darren banged his head on the frame of the window. His head felt like it had been cleaved in two. Dizzy, Darren shook his head a few times, trying to make his blurry surroundings more visible. Then, he jumped again, careful this time to not jump as high as he had before. This time, he got it right. His numb hands gripped the freezing wood outside as he pulled himself forward with all his might. Darren huffed and puffed as he wriggled his skinny, lanky frame through the tiny space. Darren tried squirming his way through, his feet waving up and down through the air with effort.

"Come ON!" Darren grunted, pressing his palms flat against the wall and giving himself a final shove. At last, Darren's body slid through the frame, and he crumpled in a heap outside the window. Brian bounded over to the window, put his paws up on the frame, and started barking anxiously. Darren groaned and raised his head, massaging his aching temple.

"I'm all right, boy!" He whispered towards his dog. Then, pausing only to make a grab for his bag and to scramble ungainly to his feet, Darren made a run for it. He sprinted towards the small shed at the back of his tiny rectangular garden. Darren was blanketed in darkness, a chilly breeze nipping his ears lightly as he ran, stumbling over lumpy patches of stray grass, but keeping on in his panic. A million sparkling, white-grey stars twinkled and winked from overhead, studded in the purple-blue clouds. From just above the house, the full moon shone coldly above like a giant pearl. At last, Darren reached the small shed. A welcoming snort came from the darkness, and a mist of breath rose in the air before him.

"Hi, girl," Darren whispered, stepping forward, feeling soft straw crunch under his feet as her reached out to give the mare a pat. "How are you doing?" Mercury whinnied reassuringly back, then turned to snatch some more hay from her hay net. Darren slipped silently inside the shed. He knew there would be no time to tack Mercury up properly. He'd just have to make the best of what he could. Slowly, carefully, Darren reached out, and took hold of the halter rope. Carefully, he began to untie the thick knots. There was a deafening BANG! Darren spun around in panic. Mercury whinnied in alarm.

"I'm alright girl," he whispered, trying to calm himself. "I'm OK…" Darren knew he had to try and relax. Mercury could sense his fear, and was beginning to panic herself. Darren walked around to the other side of the dapple-grey mare and fastened the other end of her halter-rope to her halter-collar. He then crept over to the shed door and peeked between the thin slice of view between the top and bottom halves of the shed door. The soldiers had obviously broken down his bedroom door, and seen that he wasn't there. They had now left the house and were spreading out cautiously around the garden. They hadn't seen the shed… yet. Darren knew he had only a few seconds to plan his escape before all hell broke loose . He turned and hurried back to Mercury, who was now slurping nosily from her water trough.

"Come on, girl," Darren whispered. "We're going out for a run… come on…" Mercury snorted and turned back to her hay, uninterested in the teenager.

"Come ON, girl!" Darren muttered in frustration, tugging fruitlessly at her halter rope. Mercury gave an indignant snort and stepped backwards, dragging Darren further away from the door. Darren groaned. He slung his bag onto his back, and keeping hold of Mercury's halter-rope, walked to the side of the stubborn mare. Putting his foot on the trough, he heaved himself up onto her back. Then, Darren reached for the other side of the rope, and there - a pair of reins. Darren took a deep breath before closing his eyes, twisting around and giving Mercury's rump a sharp slap.

"NNNNNNNNNNNHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!" Mercury let out a deafening, screechy whinny as she reared up in the tiny shed, her front legs kicking out.

"What was that?!" Darren heard an exclamation of noise as the soldiers heard the whinny.

"Over there!"

"There's a shed there!"

"Sounds like he's got a horse in there!"

"He'll be making a run for it- after him, lads!" At the sound of the shouting, Mercury reared up again. This time, her wildly flaying legs kicked at the door Darren had previously unbolted. It swung open at once. Neighing madly, Mercury charged forwards, Darren squashed flat on her back, his hands on her 'reins', his legs wrapped tightly around her ribs, his heels digging in, only encouraging her to gallop all the faster.

"There he is!" With a great cry, three soldiers ran after him, waving their swords madly. They stopped quickly, sensing they weren't going to catch up to him. One pulled a boomerang out of his sword belt and threw it at Darren.

Darren sensed, rather than heard, the strange whooshing noise made as the boomerang circled towards him. He ducked involuntarily. The boomerang sliced just above his head. The soldier expertly caught it and threw it again. Encouraged, the other two drew boomerangs from their belts and threw them towards Darren too. Now, it may be easy to dodge one boomerang, and possible to dodge two. But three altogether is no easy task, especially when you're also trying to ride a horse. Darren heard them as they came closer. Panicking, he ducked once to the left, once to the right, and for one second he held his head normally. This was a mistake.

CRACK! For the second time tonight, Darren's head felt like it had been split into pieces. The world spun around him. Dizzy, he collapsed onto Mercury's neck and wrapped his arms and legs tightly around her neck, scared he was going to slide off in his pain and be caught. Mercury took this as a signal to go faster. Snorting furiously, she speeded up, her hooves barley touching the ground before they were moving again. Her four silvery-grey legs were a blur as she galloped furiously, running faster than she'd ever run in her life. Her stomach was heaving as she panted furiously. Up ahead reared the enormous brick wall that towered over Darren's garden like a mountain range over a field. _This is it_, Darren thought as the wall came close. _We're done for. I'm going to be caught and dragged up before the High Court… _But, strangely, Mercury was speeding up, not slowing down. Darren panicked. She wasn't going to…

"Got ya!" Darren swivelled his head to the right, and gasped as an enormous soldier leapt towards Darren and Mercury. He was wielding a colossal battle-axe…

"GRROOOWWWWLLLLLFFFFFF!!!"

"AAAAAAHHHH!" The soldier screamed, as, leaping towards him in a golden blur was…

"Brian!" Darren cried joyfully. His faithful dog was snarling as he leaped onto the soldier and lunged at his face making savage, worrying noises. Darren smiled as his dog paused for a second, glanced at Darren and almost smiled, his pink tongue hanging out of his face, his pale brown eyes shining in the starlight…

But then Mercury gave a loud whinny as her front legs rose up to her throat and her body titled upwards as the pair looked to the stars, horse and rider, pointing towards the sky like a symbol of freedom… Darren's face shone for a moment and then they were up and over and running…


End file.
